Whole Foods, Paleo & Gluten-Free

Top 30 Chef Tips

During my week at Ashburton Cookery School back in October I learnt a heap of simple cheffy tips, that I have been applying in the kitchen ever since. My entire group on the course hung off every tip our chefs uttered and frantically scribbled the extra tips down on our oil, garlic and salt stained comprehensive notes throughout the week. Some of these tips induced ‘eureka light bulb’ moments in my brain, and I wished I’d known them when I started spending half my life in my kitchen! Though the three most valuable things I learnt were quite simple – how to joint a chicken, how to effectively slice an onion and how to poach an egg!

With Christmas on the horizon, which means lots of time in the kitchen ahead I have decided to share the wisdom of what I learned. ‘Tis the season to be jolly after all, and also sharing is caring.

There is a way or preparing everything in advance to make pulling a big dinner together easier – you just need to figure out how, and get lots of storage pots! (The lamb and mackerel dishes above are a case in point)

When making lemon zest, put a piece of baking parchment in between the grater and the lemon, that way the zest doesn’t get stuck in the grater (have you ever tried to pick out zest from a grater – it is impossible!)

When squeezing lemon juice into a recipe fresh from the lemon, place a piece of cling film over the cut lemon edge, and pierce before squeezing. This stops the pips from falling into the dish.

When using ingredients such as bay leaves and star anise, tear or break them before putting into recipe – it releases the flavour.

Pesto is best made with a pestle and mortar. This way the basil leaves are bruised to release the flavour rather than just being cut in a blender.

In pesto the warm toasted pine nuts will gently warm the garlic and take the edge of it in raw pesto so get them in quick.

4 thoughts on “Top 30 Chef Tips”

Some really great tips here Ceri and I think all the food looks really amazing. How lucky you were to spend the week there. I’d be in heaven! The Simple and in Season round up is live in my blog now featuring your lovely winter squash x

About me

Hi - I'm Ceri, I live in London, I base all my recipes on natural 'whole' foods & I avoid gluten & refined sugar like the plague. These are my adventures in my kitchen. Sometimes I adventure outside of my kitchen - I write about that here too.

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What does natural ‘whole’ foods mean?

Some might call it 'Paleo' - eating in the way that our ancient ancestors (aka cavemen) were designed to - based on tonnes of vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruit and healthy fats. I always like to add a sprinkling of health supportive herbs and spices to my dishes too.
I'll tell you a secret. I don't like labels - or comparing what I eat with a caveman (or woman) that I never met. Let's just focus on the idea of good quality whole & healthy foods, prepared simply that nourish.
Whichever label from you choose there are an awful lot of amazing foods out there to get creative with - and the best part? They make you feel awesome.